La Despedida

Within the halls of the 4th floor of Cooper Levenson law offices, it fully dawned on me that in one week's time, I would be leaving the country for the first time in my life for about six months. Up until this point, I was home for about two months from college, having finished the first semester of my junior year at Haverford College, about to spend an extended period in Argentina to study and master the spanish language. I had been preparing for this trip ever since I had gotten home but it never fully registered just how big a step I was actually taking. My plane was leaving in a few days, I wasn't packed, and now I was feeling the heat.

I was working full time (or close to full time) at Cooper Levenson trying to save for this trip never fully understanding the implications. My time at home in New Jersey passed slowly, similar to the winter days which persisted for my entire break. There was a fair amount of snow, especially compared to other years; my brother Jake and I took advantage of this opportunity. There was an acute need for snow shoveling among the elderly community in Margate... especially during the two foot blizzard that struck in late December. We made some nice cash this way and always had satisfied customers after our jobs.

 Snow = White Gold

It was a time of transition for me having come back from college moving back in with my brother Max. Periods of transition are frustrating to me. Typical of most periods of transition, I always feel that I am much less productive and get frustrated having to rework my schedule and everything. I don't believe that I ever fully moved in to my room, and was mainly just eating, working, watching Netflix movies in spanish during the break. This transition was very routine. My brother Max and I had our share of disagreements over the sharing of space, and we seem to be outgrowing our shared room of 15 years.


First shout out of this blog goes to my friends and coworkers at Cooper Levenson; it was a pleasure working with you all and I truly feel like a part of the family. As a file clerk, I fought through my fair share of paper cuts, bouts of stapeler's elbow, and periods of bleary eyes from staring at endless excel spread sheets and prolonged periods of data entry. It was all worth it though, and I came out better because of all these injuries sustained in the field. I will be sure to try and come and visit this summer and see you before I go back to school.

Tae's former room updated by Keana

Next but no less importantly, a shout out and thank you for the very nice send off from my amigos at Haverford College. The soiree and dinner at La Villa di Mancini were great and I was very pleased to have been present at both of them. It was agreed after the dinner at Dean Mancini's house that Vince Mancini is not only a wrangler but also a world class zinger. Apparently, these skills are very necessary in the legal profession (especially at Christmas parties). To Tae: you will be amazed to see what Keanu has done with
your former room in the apartment. Keanu thanks for letting me crash in my former apartment. Segal, Fernie, and Dominique, enjoy the rest of Senior years and best of luck - hope to see you guys in the summer. To Essay, Gracie, Kate, and Tania - cheers... seeya next year.

By now it was getting time to say goodbye to my sweet New Jersey and Haverford, and say hello to a totally new and different city: Buenos Aires. I wanted to live in a city as a change of pace from the sometimes dreary existence at Haverford. It would also be an opportunity to travel throughout Argentina and South America as well. As time ran out I got ready to say final farewells to my family and friends. It's been emotional. To my family - much love as always, Jake, Max, Mom and Dad gonna miss you guys.
 

This is becoming too serious. A brief aside to lighten the mood and explain the adjacent photograph. "The Origin of Charlie" - Charlie is a wooden horse with a pole attached. He used to neigh and make a galloping sound when you pushed either of his ears. He was purchased by my brother Max during a field trip in which he visited Churchill Downs (where the Kentucky Derby is held). On the airplane trip back, Max decided it was a good idea to bring Charlie through security and on the flight with him back home. Apparently this was against some regulation and the airport people wouldn't let Charlie on the plane. Despite my brothers best efforts, Charlie had to be checked and be put under the plane for an extra $25. When asked whether this extra payment was worth it, my brother without blinking an eye, just nodded at me very slowly in accession.

Max and "Charlie"

I am very excited to make the best of my trip and let you the reader know what's up. My hope for the future of this blog is to make it user friendly, and not so overloaded with intimate personal details. This way, I hope it can serve as a resource for anyone interested in traveling or studying abroad in Argentina. I realize the hypocrisy of this mission statement since with the above I am already shamelessly breaking this rule, but I feel that this should be the goal for any blog. I hope you, reader, enjoy the blog, and would welcome any questions or feedback that you may have.

Cheers,

Zack